Ethiopian Employability

Posted in Blogs on November 21, 2017

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Just imagine: You’re going to school knowing that there are little chances for employment once you completed education. Why would you even try? Unfortunately, this is the reality for many youngsters in Ethiopia. Every year about two million Ethiopians finish their education, but only a few will actually find a job in the end. That is one of the main reasons why many youngsters decide to migrate.

With the support of Dutch Christian organisation Woord en Daad and Dorcas Aid, Aflatoun International developed a curriculum to educate young people about the risks and downsides of migration and learn how to create opportunities for themselves. The employability programme is offered to migration prone youngsters in the Southern corridor of Ethiopia. It mobilises the local population and offers real possibilities in the form of entrepreneurial training, vocational education, internships and workplaces.

Thanks to the employability programme, many Ethiopian youngsters can now build their future at home. Migration comes with many risks and poses challenges for the migrant, their area of origin and the area of destination. Therefore, the aim of this programme is to see more youngsters in Ethiopia accomplish their dreams in their own home area.

In August 2017, Aflatoun International organised a facilitators training in the capital of Ethiopia. In Addis Ababa, teachers learned how to use the employability curriculum specifically tailored to migration prone youngsters from Ethiopia. By means of the knowledge and skills acquired in this programme, more young entrepreneurs like Galela can start building their dreams in their beloved country.

Only a little while ago, leaving Ethiopia was her dream, now she wants nothing else than to be a successful entrepreneur in Addis Abeba. Galela Lekell (28) used to live as a maid in the city of Hawassa with very little income. Like many young people, she left for the capital Addis Abeba with the intention to migrate to the Middle East. In the capital she got the chance to start her own enterprise offering shower facilities, thanks to the employability programme. “For 9 birr people can take a shower at my place. Many people don’t have showers. I earn 60 birr (≈€2) every day. And this is only the beginning.” Galela has already made plans to expand her business, but has stopped thinking about migrating to the Middle East. She is now living her dream already, in her own country.